What’s the Bible Say About Being Yourself? Be Happy With You, Be True To Yourself, You Were Born This Way Baby! Not…

August 20, 2011 by Ben

There is a terrible philosophy circulating in the world right now, that goes a little something like this:

God made you perfect–so always be you and never try to change to make others happy.

You were born a certain way–embrace it.

You must be true to yourself–anyone who criticizes you is just being judgemental or bigoted.

etc. etc.

What makes it worse is that secular music, movies, and other propaganda machines are brainwashing children into this same mindset. Secular songs like Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” and Katy Perry’s “Firework” have videos and lyrics which clearly demonstrate this one philosophy: Always be you, don’t change, and forget what others say.

I find this extremely bizarre, because both of these people are not their “natural selves.” After all, they constantly wear absurd outfits, dye their hair all these “UNNATURAL” colors, wear unnatural wigs, etc. Are they practicing what they preach? I mean, Katy Perry wasn’t born with blue hair, was she?

This philosophy can be further emphasized with these common trends of thought that I see happening now:

If you are overweight–no problem! Be true to yourself and don’t change. You were born fat, so be true to that. We need more plus-sized models, anyway.

If you are gay, bi, transgenered–no problem! That’s who you are. Be true to yourself. After all, God made you that way, didn’t He?

Don’t listen to judgemental people who criticize your faults. We all make mistakes and have our own quirks.

Never make any effort to change who you are, because you are a unique person.

All people should be rewarded and given trophies–even the losers. We’re all in this life together.

Happiness is the most important thing in life. Do what makes you happy, and who cares about a little word like ‘sin.’

The Problem With This Philosophy

The problem with this “be who you are naturally/born this way” philosophy is this: It is a lie, and terrible danger to the world.

We should NOT be who we were naturally born to be. We should not accept ourselves as we live now. Life isn’t about merely eeking through and surviving. Life is about conquering and learning to become BETTER (not the same) in ALL areas of your life. It is about growing up and becoming mature. Any other philosophy is just a “feel good” philosophy designed to be a convenient excuse for sinful behavior, (and/or laziness).

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we truly embraced this absurd philosophy to the full extent? Just imagine if we all just embraced who we truly were, and we never made any attempt to better ourselves or to change. Here is how I envision it:

Everyone would be fat. If we all just “were who we were,” we would all be fat slobs. Why? Because food tastes good, and our greedy nature would be to stuff our faces to get any pleasures we can from it. I think it is pretty clear this would happen, considering the obesity epidemic that is happening across the U.S. right now. Also, we would never work out–because that would not make us as we were born. That would be “changing” who we already were, since we weren’t born with ripped 6-pack abs. And we are lazy by nature, so why put the effort into exercising?

We would all be stupid. We weren’t born with an education, so getting one would be changing you. Instead, you should embrace ignorance and never learn anything. Remember, God made you “perfect,” so don’t you dare try to change anything about YOU! Don’t strive to learn math. Don’t you dare learn to write. And reading—well, that is borderline blasphemy.

We would all be liars. Being an honest person is something you have to TRAIN yourself to be. By nature, we humans are sinners. We want to minimize any scrutiny or discomfort. Even a small child (having never been told to lie) will naturally lie if it benefits them (ie, to avoid punishment, etc). Lies can be a great way to avoid condemnation from others, to make a greedy gain of money, and all sorts of evils. So we would all be liars.

We would all be greedy. Giving to others is not something we naturally do. Ever see 2 young children playing? What typically happens is that one child will try to go and grab the other toy out of the other child’s hand–even if they already have one! By nature we are greedy and self serving. We must LEARN and CHANGE to become better and more generous.

We would all commit sexual sins. I’ll tell you the person who truly misses out on this “born this way” philosophy, and that’s the child molestors, the cheaters, and those who practice bestiality. For some reason, “born this way” is a great excuse for homosexuals/bi-sexuals and transgendered–but for some reason that excuse doesn’t go over too well when the pedophile uses it. Or when a man is caught cheating on his wife, “honey, I was born to cheat” doesn’t go over too well. Yet we would all induldge in sins of the flesh if we truly embraced our natural desires. Whether it be cheating, homosexuality, pornography, or whatever we naturally felt as a temptation–it MUST be embraced if we are true to ourselves.

There would be no economy. By nature we don’t want to go work. We don’t want to put an effort to serve others. We only do it to get something back (income). So if we truly were who we were, we would never do anything except play video games, watch television, read books, or entertain ourselves.

We would all steal and covet. By nature we want things. If you are sure of this, take a young child to a toy store. I’ll guarantee you that before you leave, you will be convinced that by nature children know how to covet—even if they were never trained to do so. They will want every single toy in that store. Life would all be about want, want, want, gimme, gimme, gimme.

You get the point.

While this sick and dangerous philosophy is growing around the world–I’d just like to take the time to THANK GOD for all those people in the world who DID NOT do what they naturally wanted to do. Those people who were also just as “born that way” as all the other people in the world, yet strived to be BETTER than how they were naturally born.

I’d like to thank the child molester who didn’t embrace his temptation–thank you for not harming that young child and putting emotional scars on them for life. I’d also like to thank the man who was faithfully married to a woman his whole life, and never cheated to destory his marriage or children (even if he felt a temptation at some point). Thank you for NOT being you!

I’d like to thank that murderer, who, having felt a strong temptation to end someone’s life, decided to “override” that tempation and not do it. Thank you mister murderer for not being you!

I’d like to thank the men (and women), who sacrificed their lives so that we may have freedom in our country (which congress happens to be trying to take away). It wasn’t natural for them to die for others in such a sacrificial way. It would have been natural to protect their own lives instead. But thank you for not being you!

I’d like to thank all the doctors/nurses, scientists, firefighters, police officers, and others who risk their lives daily or service others so that others may be protected. Thanks for not being you!

I’d like to thank all of the Bible prophets and apostles, who, despite being beaten, jailed, sawed in half, beheaded, kicked out of countries, and more–did not seek the temperary pleasures of this world (which is the natural thing to do), but chose to be mistreated along with the people of God for sake of a greater good. Thank you all for not being you!!

I’d like to thank the thief–who, being tempted to steal merchandise, hack a bank account or something else–stopped and realized that it may put another person through financial hardship. I’m glad that even though they naturally were born to be a thief, they chose to train themselves to be BETTER. Thank you, Mr. Thief, for not being you!

I’d like to thank the drunk and the drug addict–you wanted the escape and fun that drugs and alcohol brought you, but rather than put your family through that mess, you realized that you should not be who you were naturally. And in doing so, you spared your family years of heartache, financial struggle, and more. Thank you, Mr. drug, addict for not being you!

The Bible Does Say You Are Special

The Bible does say that we all have spiritual “gifts,” (2 Corinthians 12:8), God did create us unique, loves us, and so forth. That much is absolutely true. But like all good lies, this new age philosophy being taught contains both lies and truths.

While God did create us unique, and while God did bless us with special talents, he did not create us “perfect.” He created us “free.” We have the freedom to choose either good or evil. We have the freedom to serve ourselves or to serve God. The Bible is abundantly clear on this.

So to then twist things to make it seem as if God “created someone” to be evil is nonsense. We all have the choice to act a way we want. To twist things to say that we should be “true to ourselves,” is wrong, for we are all sinners and wicked in the sight of God. To say we are all “born that way,” does nothing–God knows full and well we are created under a curse of sin, and have a tendency to sin.

But we also have the choice to be better. Rather than be slaves to sin and “ourselves,” we can be slaves to Christ.

The Bible’s Philosophy Is the Complete Opposite of “Be Yourself”

If we compare this sick philosophy of “be yourself” to the Bible, we see an astonishing contrast. The Bible has the complete opposite philosophy. Jesus said the way you were born isn’t good enough. In fact, this is what he had to say about it:

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (emphasis mine)

Jesus said that if you stay exactly as you are, you are going to hell. “Born that way” doesn’t matter to Jesus. He KNOWS you were born in a sin nature–and quite frankly, the excuse doesn’t impress Him at all. You must be born again! Only those who are “born again” will see the kingdom of God. That should be a wakeup call to those who want to indulge in their sins or make excuses. Jesus just crumbled your excuse to bits with that one statement.

The Bible teaches that we are born with a “sin” nature. Through one man (Adam), sin entered the world. The Bible says that all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Bible teaches that the point of life is not to be as we are, but to become like Christ:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:16-26

Conclusion: Don’t Be You, Be Better! Be Like Christ!

For crying out loud, and for the sake of society–don’t be you!! You are a sinner with a sin nature, and yes, you were born that way. I know that, because I’m a sinner with a sin nature, too. No one is a “good person” in the eyes of God (and you are included). In fact, there has been exactly one truly righteous person in this world: Jesus, and you ain’t Him.

So do the world a favor: don’t be you. Be better. Rise up and strive to become more like Christ. Eat healthy, exercise, stop cursing, stop lusting, stop being greedy, don’t steal, don’t murder, and turn from sin. You will never be perfect in the flesh, but you can be made perfect in the spirit. You may never be sinless in this life, but you can be redeemed and cleansed of your sins.

You will never be 100% like Christ in all things while in the flesh, but you can become MORE like Christ over time. You may never crush sin 100% at all times in your life, but you can be redeemed by a Christ who did crush all sin for all eternity.

Do you know Jesus Christ? Friend, time is running short. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, I urge you to do so now. God will forgive you of all of your sins if you turn to Him and seek His forgiveness. Place your total faith and trust in the risen Christ, and you can inherit eternal life.

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